English

Spring 2

Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies

Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies is an engaging and informative nonfiction picture book that introduces young readers to the life of the blue whale, the largest animal on Earth. Through clear, poetic language and detailed illustrations, the book explains how enormous these ocean giants are—larger than dinosaurs and as long as several buses. Davies helps readers imagine the whale’s immense size by comparing its heart to a small car and describing the thunderous power of its tail.

The book explores how blue whales survive in the ocean despite their size. It explains that they feed mostly on tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill, gulping huge mouthfuls of water and filtering out their prey through baleen plates. Readers learn about the whale’s life cycle, including how mothers care for their calves, which drink hundreds of liters of rich milk each day and grow rapidly.

Davies also describes how blue whales communicate using deep, powerful songs that travel vast distances underwater. The book touches on their migration patterns, explaining how they move through the world’s oceans in search of food.

Importantly, the story addresses the history of whaling, when humans hunted blue whales nearly to extinction. It explains how international laws have since helped protect them, allowing populations to slowly recover. Overall, Big Blue Whale combines fascinating facts with a message of wonder and conservation, encouraging respect and care for these magnificent marine mammals.

Our Writing Outcome: To write an information text

Mastery Keys are the key skills and learning objectives children work towards in our Pathways to Write scheme. They outline the specific writing skills—such as grammar, vocabulary, structure and creativity—that pupils need to master in each unit. The Mastery Keys listed below show the exact skills your child will be developing and help you understand what they are working towards in their writing. 

Mastery Keys: 

• Use adverbs to express time, place and cause
• Use different sentence structures
• Use headings and sub-headings to aid presentation

Our class read is: 

The World’s Worst Teachers by David Walliams

The World’s Worst Teachers by David Walliams is a hilarious and wildly imaginative collection of short stories about the most outrageous teachers ever to stand at the front of a classroom. Each chapter introduces a different “worst” teacher, whose behavior ranges from strange and unfair to downright terrifying.

Among them are characters like a headteacher obsessed with rules and punishments, a science teacher who turns lessons into dangerous experiments, and instructors who care more about their own interests than their students’ education. Walliams exaggerates their flaws to ridiculous extremes, creating larger-than-life personalities that are both awful and funny. The stories often show how these teachers misuse their power, embarrass students, or create chaos in school.

Despite the exaggerated comedy, the book carries an underlying message about fairness, kindness, and the importance of good teaching. The students in the stories often find clever or brave ways to stand up for themselves, and in many cases, the terrible teachers eventually face consequences for their behavior.

Filled with silly humor, outrageous situations, and playful illustrations, The World’s Worst Teachers entertains readers while celebrating the idea that truly great teachers are caring, supportive, and inspiring.